Garment.



A. MALSIN.

GARMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2,1911

1,119,296, Patented Dec.1,191 L present improvements.

TED STATES PATENT oEEicE.

ALBERT MALSIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

' GARMENT.

Application filed May 2, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT MALSIN, a citizen of the United States, residin at New York city, in the county of New ork and State of New York,,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garments, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

My present invention relates to maternity dresses and other garments which are contrived and adapted to accommodate themselves to persons of different sizes and shapes. The object of the invention pri marily is to so construct the waist band or waist portion of the garment that it will adjust itself easily and naturally to persons of different sizes without the necessity of altering its length or shape. The invention, therefore, consists essentially in elastic means arranged in connection with the waist band or waist portion of a garment so as to accomplish the purpose of my inven tion, and also it may be said to consist in certain peculiarities in the construction and combination of parts substantially as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention, Figure 1 illustrates a view of my improved waist band device as adapted to be worn by a slender person. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same device showing it applied for use by a stouter person. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective detailview of the ornamental covering belt for the waist band. Fig. 4 is a cross section, and Fig. 5 a detail plan view of a part of the waist band constructed in accordance with my Fig. 6 is a cross section, and Fig. 7 a partial detail plan view of a modified form of the waist band patterned after my present improvements.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the different figures of the drawing.

3 designates the upper portion of an or-- dinary dress skirt to which my improved elastic waist band is stitched by a series of ordinary stitches or other fastening means at 5. The waist band, which constitutes the chief features of my invention, is designated 1, and is any desired width and length, the opposite edges thereof being turned over and sewed down on each other at 4 and 5 so as to provide pockets or pas- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

Serial No. 624,566.

sages to contain the elastic strips 2. The method of attaching the elastic strips 2 to the waist band 1 is by first stretching out the waist band, it having been cut to its maximum length as required for use by the largest or stoutest person by whom it might be worn, and while it is thus stretched out in such position it is laid over the edge of the skirt 3 smoothly and neatly and sewed thereto. WVhile the waist band 1 is thus stretched to its maximum length, the pockets or passages for elastic strips 2 are formed, and said elastic strips 2 are themselves stretched to their maximum extension, and the material of the waist band 1 closely stitched about them so that they will occupy a close fit in the receiving pockets, and the stitches at 4 and 5 will hold the strips 2 securely and firmly, and yet, at the same time, these stitches 4. and 5 will not pass through the elastic bands 2, but the latter will occupy their position in the pockets which hold them. Two lines of stitching, as at L and 5, one at the top and another at the bottom near the opposite edges of the waist band 1, are all that is usually required to make a neat fastening. This mode of attaching the waist band to the skirt, and of connecting the rubber bands to the waist band, can be performed by any suitable stretching frame, which will hold the goods.

stretched out in the position required while being sewed, but it is not deemed necessary to illustrate such a device.

In Figs. 6 and 7 the dress skirt 3 is shown the same as in Figs. 4 and 5, and the waist band 10 is narrower, but it is provided with one or more rows of stitches at 12 in order to tightly connect the elastic bands 11 thereto, in a like manner as the bands 2 are secured in the wider waist band 1.

When the band 1 is released it contracts as the result of the action of the rubber bands 2 or 11 resuming their normal unstretohed position, and in so doing the material of the waist band 1 is carried back with the elastic bands 9. so as to form a series of accordion plaits or puckers, as seen in Figs. 5 and 7. Thus it will be seen that the waist band can be automatically extended or contracted and easily made to fit figures of various sizes within the limits of the expansion and contraction of the elastic bands 2 without changing the form or character of the goods,

and without cutting or sewing or reconstructing of the waist band, for it will perfornrthis function automatically, and will be suited either to slender or stout persons.

The waist band 1 is in itself a complete finished article, andis neat and tasty in appearance. The gathering or puckering of the material enhances its pleasing efiec't and consequently such a waist band as this provides a neat finish for the garment and may be considered as complete in itself without the necessity or having any covering therefor. Of course it can be made out of any kind of material. The character of the material oftentimes determines the efiect produced thereby. This, therefore, is another advantage belonging to my invention of having a finished effect produced by the extensible waist band itself.v

The waist band 1 may completely encircle the waist or it may pass around only partially. It may. be made in sections at the sides or a single section at the back, or it may be otherwise arranged, the object being to insert at one or more points in the waist band means of the character I have herein described, consisting essentially of a pocketed band in whose pockets are placed rubber or elastic, bands. In order, however, when desired, to nearly cover and conceal the puckered waist band 1 and its elastic bands 2, and enable the waist band at all times to present the same appearance without exposing the character of its construction, I employ a belt 6 which encircles the waist band, being of the same width or'a little wider, and having an ornamental knot 7 similar to that made in a four-in-hand tie, through which knot one end 8 of the belt is loosely drawn so that it may drop alongside of the other end 9. Obviously, with the knot 7 and the loose end 8 passing through it in such an easily adjustable manner, the belt 6 can be used with the waist band whatever may be the degree of its stretching,whether expanded to its full length or shortened to its contracted length, and in every instance of such use the belt will be found equally effective, useful and attractive.

Obviously, my invention may be varied within wide limits by changing many of the details and varying from the precise form which is illustrated and described, without exceeding the scope of the invention, and I reserve the liberty of making all such changes as may be found desirable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A self-adjustable waist band, compris- I ing a strip having the-opposite longitudinal edges thereof provided with longitudinally extending pockets formed by rows of stitches at the sides thereof, and elastic bands fitted in said pockets and held therein by the pressure ofthe rows of stitches.

2. A. self-adjustable waist-band, comprising a shirred strip having its longitudinal edges turned over and sewed down upon each other to provide longitudinally extending parallel pockets that are formed by the rows of stitches, elastic bands carried in said pockets andv held securely therein by the pressure of the lines of stitches against them, the length of the elastic bands when stretched to their maximum extension being equal to the length of the waist band when stretched to its maximum length.

3. A self-adjustable waist band, comprising a shirred strip having the opposite edges thereof turned over and sewed down on each other to provide pockets at the edge, said pockets being formed by the rows of stitches, elastic bands fitted in said pockets and held therein by the rows of stitches which are closely contiguous thereto, the length of the elastic bands when stretched to their maximum extension being equal to the length of the waist band when stretched to its maximum length, ,the whole arranged so that the waist band will have puckers or plaits therein when the bands contract.

In testimony whereof I alfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT MALSIN.

' Witnesses:

Jnannnrcrn S'ronx, L. S. Pnnninn. 

